The iPhone 6 Plus was a game changer for Apple back in 2014. But it’s riding off into the sunset now that it’s been added to Apple’s list of vintage products, limiting its repair options.
And the iPad 4 from 2012 is now officially obsolete.
Apple fans are some of the most dedicated in all of tech (some might even call them a cult), but a few enterprising and/or desperate people really outdid themselves this year.
Not that we can really blame them. Cupertino brought the heat this year with the Apple Watch, a cool new Apple TV, the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus, and the massive iPad Pro. We can forgive the superfans for really going all out to get their hands on the latest iGear. But some of their efforts might have been a bit too enthusiastic.
Here are some times when people’s love of Apple outweighed logic this year.
Secret sauce—it’s the reason Apple keeps winning where others fail, and on our newest CultCast, we discuss the recipe that keeps Apple ahead of the pack. Plus, iOS 8 rumors detail some powerful new features; whispers of an impossibly thin iPhone 6; A-list musicians praise Pono as the digital music player for audiophiles; iPad 4 makes a comeback; and we reveal our favorite Cult movies on a all-new Get To Know Your Cultist!
Guffaw your way through each week’s best Apple stories! Stream or download new and past episodes of The CultCast now on your Mac or iDevice by subscribing on iTunes, or hit play below and let the uproarious good time commence.
And thanks to FreshBooks for sponsoring this episode! That’s right, Fresbooks the simple online accounting solution built for small business owners – just like you – who want to skip the headache of tax time. For a limited time, try FreshBooks free 60 days, and enter “CultCast” in the “How Did You Hear About Us” section.
Show notes up next!
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CultCast #118 – The Secret Sauce
Leander Kahney – Cult of Mac Editor-in-Chief, loyal subject of the Queen.
Erfon Elijah – Cult of Mac writer and host of The CultCast.
Buster Heine – Cult of Mac writer and community manager.
iOS 8 Apple considers Notification Center Messages tweaks removing Game Center app (Discussion)
Pegatron And Foxconn Gearing Up For iPhone 6 Production [Rumor]
Apple Retires iPad 2, Replaces It With Retina Display Model
Apple Confirms The 8GB iPhone 5c Will Not Be Sold In The U.S.
You’d be hard-pressed to find anyone who would argue that Apple’s Lightning connector isn’t superior to the old 30-pin connector in every way. That’s why it’s surprising that it has taken Apple so long to phase 30-pin out of its product lineup.
Today Apple brought back the fourth-gen iPad to replace the non-Retina iPad 2. While the press release focuses on the obvious display upgrade, discontinuing the iPad 2 means something else that’s important: another nail in the coffin for 30-pin.
Apple has re-introduced its fourth-generation iPad, this time with only a 16GB capacity.
The revived model replaces the aging iPad 2 — originally released in early 2011 — in Apple’s lineup. Like the iPad mini with Retina Display, it is priced at $399, making it $100 than the iPad Air. A cellular model is also available for $529.
The iPad Air is the first 9.7-inch Retina iPad to ship without an A-X series chip. Put more simply, it’s the first such iPad to forego bolting more graphic cores onto the core chip to drive the massive 2048 x 1536 display.
But if you think that means the iPad Air will have weaker graphic performance than the fourth-gen iPad, you don’t know Apple very well. In fact, graphic performance is as much as 70% better than the last 9.7-inch iPad.
As we predicted, iOS 7 Beta 2 dropped for developers today, but substantially, it’s the first iOS 7 beta to support the iPad 2, Retina iPad and iPad mini.
We’ve already seen official shots of what iOS 7 looks like running on the iPad, as well as shots of iOS 7 running on Xcode’s iPad emulator. Now, though, we’ll get to finally see it running on a real device.
Here are the direct download links:
KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo is one of the most reliable analysts out there when it comes to predicting upcoming Apple products. Whomever his sources are in the Far East, they run deep. So when Kyo says that the iPad 5 will be 15% thinner and 25% lighter than the iPad 4, and it will take significantly less time to charge, that’s a prediction worth taking seriously.
Whenever third-party retailers start selling an Apple device at a discounted price, it’s usually a good indication that the next product iteration is on the near horizon. While this isn’t always the case, it’s a historic trend that points towards something new from Apple.
Based on recent price cuts from big retailers and the rumor mill, it looks like the iPad will be getting a refresh soon.
Apple just sent out a press release confirming that cellular models of the iPad mini and fourth-gen iPad will officially go on sale in China this Friday, January 15th. During a trip to China last week, Apple CEO Tim Cook confirmed that WiFi + Cellular models of the company’s newest iPads would arrive this month. The WiFi-only versions went on sale December 7th, a little over a month after U.S. sales began.
